Pretty Little Boy
by FreeKiwi
Summary: [RS][TwoShot] It was one of those obscure things. One of those things people shake their heads at, but never, ever really talked about.
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters! They all belong to the people of Enix!**

_**A/N: Implied shounen-ai... yeeeep.**_

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**Pretty Little Boy**

_By: Freekiwi_

•

Chapter One

•

Sora stared down at the hardwood table and the hardwood table stared right back up. He blinked and sniffled, giving a shaky breath. His hot breath appeared on the surface for a split second before disappearing once again.

Psychically and mentally he felt drained and deprived of energy and happiness. He wasn't crying though, not now anyway. The other thing he felt right now was not only the pain on his body and on his face, but the pain that was also stabbing and tearing away at his aching heart.

And the pain that was inflicted on his body was Riku's friends fault... and the pain that was inflicted in his heart was Riku's fault...

The brunette still stared emotionlessly down at the table. He was quite thankful nobody was home yet. He knew his mother would go into conniptions when she saw her baby boy, all beaten and bruised. And then she would probably scold him for not cleaning himself up, but Sora didn't have the will to do anything at the moment.

He just wanted to stare at the wooden table... that was the only thing he felt he could do...

_-Fin-_

**(No, just kidding.)**

•Flashback•

The brunette bid Kairi and Selphie goodbye as they stepped onto their school bus. Sora didn't take the school bus because he was in walking distance of his home and to be honest, taking the bus took longer. Only would he take the bus if it were too hot or cold or maybe too rainy to walk.

"See you tomorrow!" Kairi waved to her friend from out of the school bus window.

Sora smiled and waved back to her, he never minded waiting for the bus with the two girls. Actually, he enjoyed that part of the day, it was fun for him... They always talked and shared gossip they had heard that day (the gossip was mostly Selphie).

Sighing with content, the boy began to walk down the sidewalk. The sidewalk that would lead him to the park and the park would lead him almost directly to the front of his neighborhood.

Another reason why Sora didn't take the bus. He absolutely loved the park.

Be it fall or summer or spring and even in the warm days of winter, Sora loved the park. The flowers decaying and dying in the fall then completely dead during the winter with the layers of snow packed atop the trees. Soon flowers sprung to life again in the spring and then flourishing in the summer sunlight. His favorite, however, was watching everything slowly die. It was sad, and yet so beautiful...

And he was lucky today, it was a cool day in fall. Warm with a gentle breeze blowing. The dying leaves hanging onto the tree branches with each kiss of the wind, trying to hold on just for a little bit longer. The decaying leaves lined the sidewalk and scraped on the pavement with the wind, everything was artistic and marvelous.

The boy had to smile again, content and happy. His portal CD player placed in his shoulder bag and his headphones around his neck. The CD player wasn't on at the moment because Sora just wanted to hear the wind blow and the leaves die. He had no use for the music today.

As he walked the leaf covered path to an open area of the park, he stopped for a moment. Taking his headphones off of his neck, he placed them in his shoulder bag and then gazed around at the beautiful surroundings. The park seemed different today... alive and flourishing even if that was the exact opposite of what was really happening.

And as Sora began to walk again, he was stopped.

Riku stood in front of him, staring down at Sora with a deep dislike. And it took Sora a moment or so to figure out why Riku was here... and it only took a moment because the brunette found himself on the ground.

Riku had pushed him...? Sora and Riku had never exactly gotten along, they weren't really friends... but it was beyond the brunette why the other boy would just come to the park and... push him.. It was odd.

And it slightly hurt, not the fall, but Sora's chest. It hurt... because Sora liked Riku.

The brunette opened his mouth to speak, but he found himself unable to do so. Three other boys surround him and Riku and everything suddenly seemed darker. Everything really did seem like it was dying and decaying and the park had lost that majestic feeling.

The younger boy wasn't even sure of what was going on... He could feel pain in his face and sides and he was unable to move and maybe he was yelling. Somebody was yelling...

And then something in his brain clicked; he was being beaten up.

So he became scared. He was never good at fighting or sports and he wasn't exactly muscular, it was a wonder nobody had beaten him up before. Sora was quite the easy target if you really thought about it. The only thing that protected him was maybe his friends.. But they weren't here...

Everything was painful, one of his eyes was stinging with pain and he could taste blood in his mouth. The thing was though, was that Sora didn't remember getting hit in those places. He didn't remember being hit in the mouth or eye... Everything was in his chest.

The brunette didn't even know if he was moving or not. He wasn't even sure if he was trying to fight back and everything was happening so quickly. His sides suddenly stung and he felt a painful throb in his back. Maybe he was curled into a ball to protect what was left of his face..

And then it all ended.

And when Sora finally understood what had happened, he found himself sitting against a tree with his bag right next to him and Cloud or... Leon or somebody asking him if he was ok.

The boy was so disoriented and confused about everything. Had Riku really beaten him up or was it his imagination or maybe it was someone else... or...

Sora threw his arms around Cloud. He had finally recognized who it was and what had happened. He let his mind pool around the beating and Riku and the contorted looks on their faces. He finally felt the pain that was inflicted on his body and his heart gave a painful throb and Sora literally thought he would die.

The brunette was crying on his friend's shoulder. Cloud held Sora close, gently rubbing the boys back and telling him sweet nothings. The younger boy was sobbing uncontrollably and his salty tears stung his beautiful beaten face..

•Backflash•

Sora sniffled at the memory. Cloud... Riku.. The horrible beating...

Nothing was broken though, that he was grateful for. He knew too, Cloud had checked Sora out before fully moving him off of the ground and walking him the rest of the way home. The blond had even offered to clean the brunette up, but Sora said he'd be ok... at the time, he'd still been crying...

"Sora baby! I'm home!" his mother's voice rang throughout the house.

She took her high heels off and tossed them into the shoe closet with her jacket. Sighing with a bit of relief, she walked from the foyer and into the kitchen. Soon as she saw her son, she stopped and stared at the odd scene.

"Sora?" she questioned.

The brunette lifted his head up and attempted to smile at her.

She gasped and stumbled back a bit. Her son, her baby boy, was beaten and bruised. His eyes both black and there was dried blood under his nostrils. His lips were cut in more places than one and his cheeks were bruised and battered. Dried blood lined his lips and as he smiled at here, the closing cuts cracked and fresh blood lined those lips.

His mother couldn't find her voice to ask what had happened. She didn't have to ask though, because a moment later, Sora spoke, his voice quiet and hurt.

"I got... beat up..."

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**This story is only gonna be two or three chapters. I was going to cram it all into a one-shot, but it was too long to be a one-shot and too short to be a real chapter story.**

**Anyway, this idea came from my cousin (she's twenty now) who got beaten up five years ago. She was getting off the bus and the girl behind her pushed her off the bus stairs and started really beating my cousin... My uncle was so mad. Yea... so anyway... this story is dedicated to her.**

**Read and review for an updated.. Hell, just review...**


	2. Chapter Two

**_Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters! They all belong to the people of Enix!_**

**_A/N: Implied shounen-ai... yeeeep._**

* * *

**Pretty Little Boy**

_By: Freekiwi_

••

Chapter Two

••

Sora kept his head down as he walked the halls of his highschool. He didn't want to see Riku or his friends again, he wasn't looking forward to this day. One good thing though... Cloud was walking him home today.

His mother had scolded him, just like he had expected. And she had cleaned him up as best she could, but his eyes were still black, his face still bruised and his lips still cracked and cut. She was furious with him, Sora's mother, because Sora refused to let her call Riku's mother.

And the brunette had a reason, he wanted to confront Riku on his own. Later on though... not now.

Sora sighed, he walked out of the doors of his school. The day was now over and he hadn't seen Riku or his friends all day long. He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling Cloud had threatened one of them or something... though Riku didn't seem like the one to back down just because Cloud said so.

"Hey..." Cloud said as he touched Sora's shoulder.

The brunette smiled at the blond, muttering a little 'hi'. Both then walked down the sidewalk and past the bus which Selphie and Kairi were currently boarding. Sora waved to the two girls as they walked past the bus.

"Why didn't you just take the bus home..?" Cloud asked, wrapping an arm about Sora's shoulders.

Sora smiled a bit, "Riku rides the bus..."

Cloud nodded, "well.. Yesterday he didn't."

The brunette sighed.

•§•

"How was school?" his mother asked once Sora was safely in the house. She had the day off and that Sora was thankful for, he was still shaken from yesterday and didn't feel like staying home alone.

The brunette probably would've asked Cloud to stay if it weren't for his mother. Hell, he felt like asking Cloud to stay just because he didn't want to be alone at all.

Sora opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the doorbell. The boy scrunched his eyebrows together, they hardly ever got visitors. And when they did, it was usually one of their neighbors or Kairi and Selphie.

Sora shrugged and stood up to answer the door. He figured it was probably one of the neighbors or something along those lines.. His mother followed him at a distance, scared for her son after he had been so beaten. It was a motherly instinct to be worried.

The brunette opened the door and gasped a bit, stepping backwards.

His mother said nothing, but he could tell she was glaring at the boy who stood in the doorway.

Riku.

Riku stood at the doorway, an apathetic look on his beautiful features. He moved a strand of silver hair from his face and placed it behind his ear. The older boy had his gaze cast down to the ground, not wanting to look up at the boy he had beaten up or his mother.

Sora looked at his mother, his eyes telling her to go. Riku wouldn't try to beat him up in his own house and it wasn't like Sora would go outside with him. Plus, he could scream and she'd come... though the brunette didn't think it'd get that drastic.

His mother walked away, back into the kitchen. She'd fix dinner or something... something to take her mind off of her son and the bully that had hurt him. She knew... she knew Sora knew what he was doing.

Both stood there, Sora looking at everything but Riku and Riku still staring at the floor. Neither wanted to face each other... the younger boy defiantly didn't want to face the bully. Not now, while he was still hurt and shaken...

"I'm sorry..." was all that Riku could think to say. It was a long-shot, Sora probably wouldn't forgive him.

"Why?"

"Why what?" the older one asked, looking at the other boy now.

"Why... why did you beat me up?"

Riku shook his head, "I... it... it doesn't matter..."

"No, it does." he walked over to Riku and grabbed his wrist, pulling the boy inside. Once the silver haired teen was inside, Sora shut the front door and leaned against it.

Riku turned around and faced Sora, a hurt look upon his face.

Sora glared, Riku shouldn't have that look, Sora should. He was the one that got beaten up, he was the one in pain, he was the one who had just innocently walked through the park to get home. It was he who should've looked hurt.

"Why?" the younger boy repeated in a harsh tone. He was surprised at his own bravery, maybe he felt safe in his own domain.

"Look, it doesn't matter. Just... I'm sorry, ok?"

"Is Cloud making you apologize? Did he threaten you? Why did you beat me up? Why!" Sora was shouting now. He wanted... no, he needed to know. "Was there a reason for it? Did you just want to hurt someone younger and smaller?"

"No! We did it because..."

"Because why!"

"Because you're pretty!"

There was a moment of silence in which Riku glared softly and Sora just stared wide-eyed. That... didn't make sense... they beat him because he was pretty? Sora didn't think he was pretty... by all means, Riku was so much more than he was.

"..what?" came the brunette's confused reply.

"...because you're pretty... we beat you up because you're pretty..."

Sora stared down at the floor, biting down on his lower lip. He was... pretty? Since when? He was scrawny and odd looking, his eyes big and wide and blue and his hair all spiky and bouncy. His skin was always slightly tanned and his finger nails were all bitten down. Since when was he ever pretty?

"Riku... you... you're so.." the smaller boy paused, "you're so much more prettier than I am.. You're not pretty, you're beautiful... it doesn't make sense. Why would you beat me up? You're so much better looking..."

"No... see... this is why I didn't want to tell you." Riku's reply was a bit harsh, he was embarrassed. "I got my friends... as well as myself.. To beat you up because you're pretty. And it's like you don't notice it. Every day at school, you have girls following you, wishing to be with you and it's like you never notice. I've seen guys lust over you... and it doesn't matter how gorgeous I am.. I had to work to be like this..."

Sora didn't say a word.

"Sora... you're not just... pretty... you're perfect. Your teeth are all shiny and straight, your eyebrows are all clean. You have a great personality and you get all A's.. I know you get A's... Kairi tells me."

"You..." Sora took a shaky breath, "you didn't beat me up cause I was pretty... you beat me up because you were jealous... of me..?

Riku looked rather ashamed, "yes... I was jealous... and I thought if we beat you up, disfigured your face or hurt your spirit or crushed something inside you... that you wouldn't be everything everyone wants.."

The brunette wanted to tell Riku to get out, leave, and never come back. But he couldn't, he just couldn't find it in him. Riku was... apologizing for hurting him. He was admitting to being jealous...

"I... I forgive you... for beating me up.."

Riku smiled gently, "I really am sorry... I just.. I dunno.. You were so perfect and you never noticed it. It annoyed me... so I thought if I got some of my friends to beat you up, then maybe people wouldn't like you so much. Like.. Maybe you couldn't protect yourself.."

Sora smiled a bit weakly, "I can't protect myself..."

Riku shrugged and smiled a bit, "anyway..."

"Yea... um..."

There was an awkward moment of silence. Sora shifted off of the door and Riku cleared his throat... the air between them was clear, but Sora doubted they'd ever really be friends. Deep down... he still felt hurt.

And then Riku did something neither expected, he hugged the younger boy to him.

Sora was a bit surprised at first and then slowly wrapped his arms around Riku. This was nice.. Just for now anyway.

_-Fin-_

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**Aww.. How... sickeningly sweet... barf... I wanted it to be kind of sad, buuut that just wasn't happening. So.. This story is a two-shot. Thanks for reading it, now review it.**


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